Kazakhstan Lawmakers Adopt “LGBT Propaganda” Ban

The Majilis, Kazakhstan’s lower chamber of Parliament, voted on November 12 to adopt legislative amendments that will establish a wide-ranging ban on spreading information about “non-traditional” sexual orientation.

Commonly known as the anti “LGBT propaganda” law, the measure will restrict traditional media, educators, and social media users from writing, lecturing, or posting “propaganda of pedophilia and/or non-traditional sexual orientation.”

The proponents of the law said that the decision came “in response to growing public concern about protecting children from negative content in the digital space.”

This “negative content,” however, is poorly defined in the law. “Non-traditional sexual orientation,” while enshrined in the law as a discriminatory term, is not defined – and critics say that it would be quite difficult to define what exactly counts as “traditional” and what can be called “propaganda.”

Seven human rights groups published on November 11 a joint statement arguing that the passing of this law “would violate fundamental human rights and increase the vulnerability of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and other queer people (LGBTIQ+) in Kazakhstan.”

A working group in charge of discussing the legislative amendments ahead of the vote dismissed all criticism in a rather quick session at the end of October.

Today, Majilis deputies voted unanimously to adopt the proposed changes.

The amendments will now be sent to the Senate for review. Once approved there, the text will be sent to the desk of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for his final signature.

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